Information for Prospective 5th Year Masters Students

Eligibility

Applicants must be current undergraduate majors in EECS or L&S CS
(including Community College Transfers). The minimum GPA to apply is a 3.0, but it is preferred that applicants have a 3.5 or higher cumulative GPA.

Application Timeline

Applications to the EECS 5th Year MS Program are only accepted once a year in
the fall semester on approximately December 15th to begin the program the following fall
semester. Optimal timing of the application for most students will be in the first
semester of their Senior year.

Various Dates and Locations

Info Sessions - email announcements will come from your major advisor

December 15, 2014 at 11:59pm

Online Application and Supplemental Materials Deadline

January 5, 2015 (at the latest)

Admissions Decisions, Via email.

April 15, 2015

Statement of Intent to Register Deadline

Spring 2015

Admitted students meet with Masters Student Services Advisor to discuss
Spring courses that can be used for the MS degree, and continue/begin research
with faculty advisor.

Application Instructions

We will expect you to have a research advisor and project lined up by the end of the Fall semester.
In addition, one of your letters of recommendation must be from that intended faculty advisor.

The GRE exam is not required for the 5th Year M.S. Program. However, if you are not chosen for the 5th Year M.S. Program
and would like to be considered for the regular M.S or Ph.D program, you must submit
GRE scores by that program's deadline.

Apply during the Fall of the current year to in the Fall of the following year.

Letter of Recommendation Process:

Do not send hardcopies or have them sent. Please follow the online recommendation
instructions in the
Graduate Division online application.
Recommendation letters can be submitted directly by the recommenders or through a service called
Interfolio.
Applicants can request their recommenders to submit their letters to Interfolio,
which then submits them to Berkeley and other universities to which you have applied.
This reduces the effort by the recommenders, who only have to submit their letters once to Interfolio.

Recommendation Letter Tips:

Having more than 3 letters, though we allow it, is not recommended. Due
to the volume of applications we receive every year, there is no guarantee
that more than 3 letters will be read. Three strong letters is
much better than 3 strong letters and one mediocre or bad letter.

It can be a good idea to ask your recommenders if they can write you a
good, detailed letter. You would be surprised at the number of mediocre or
non-descriptive letters we receive every year. A one-two sentence letter
is probably not going to help your cause. The best letters gauge your ability
and potential for research and graduate study, often citing examples from
the recommenders own experiences with you.

When you reach the Proposed Degree Program Page

Indicate that you would like to apply for the Fall semester.

Choose Electrical Engineering & computer Sciences 5th-Year MS from the Degree Program page at the beginning of the online application.

Choose research areas from the preferences drop down menu. For more information on each of the areas and their subareas, please see
Research Areas.

Application Materials

The online application and supplemental materials (letters of recommendation and GRE scores) deadline is December 15, 2014. Late applications will not be accepted. Admissions decisions will be announced by January 5 by e-mail.

DEADLINE: DECEMBER 15, 2014

Financial Aid

Typically, Masters degrees are self-funded. You can see "Graduate Academic" tuition
and fees on the Registrar's website.

For our Masters programs, we are able to nominate a couple of CS Masters students each
year for the Siebel award ($35,000) for exceptional admitted students. This may be
an option for you,
but the award would not be decided until a month before you begin the Masters program (usually July).

5th year MS students who wish to serve as GSIs are encouraged to do so as Seniors.
They may not serve as GSIs during the graduate program because of the time constraints
of research and classes. Exceptions to this policy may be requested by petition and
must include research advisor's explanation of why a GSI appointment will not delay
the student's graduation. See full GSI Policy.

Finding a Research Advisor

Because of the requirement to complete the Masters portion of the program in only one
year, it is essential that the student have identified a research advisor among the
faculty at the time they apply to the 5th year MS program. Several faculty will
actively seek students from this program. In general, students can pursue
independent projects, or join a project team, but they are required to submit an
independently written Masters report that makes clear their own independent
contribution to the research.

If you have enjoyed a particular course, then you can learn about that faculty member
and go to his/her office hours with your resume and project(s) you might want to join.
Talk to the professor about their work, your skills, what projects of his/hers you are interested
in, and why you want to do undergraduate research.

If you have any other questions, please contact the Graduate Admissions Officers in 205 Cory Hall.